Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You
by pimkie
Summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione ran in '97 to save the world, but what about the ones who stayed? Ginny's summer was horrible and the new school year is not looking better. But everything changes when she finds a friend in an old enemy.
1. Chapter 1

_**I do not own neither "Harry Potter" books, nor the characters.**_

_**This fanfiction events happen in the course of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" book.  
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_**Hope you enjoy my story, I hope you can understand everything even with typos or gramatical errors, but English isn't my native language (I try the best I can =3)**_

_**Feel free to send me a PM if I'm being lazy and not updating!**_

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**Chapter I**

That was by far the worst summer in Ginny Weasley's life. Not because her brothers left her alone all the time, not because her new sister-in-law Fleur was a bitch, but because her brother, her best friend and her quasi-boyfriend decided to disappear from the face of the earth during a Death Eater attack, and they never received any news after that.

That's good, at least that was what her mother thought. If they were found and killed, You-Know-Who would be screaming everywhere that The Boy Who Lived was dead. But Ginny dreamed about it every day. Harry's pale face in the front page of the newspaper, and Voldemort's laughter echoing in her dreams. She always woke up soaked in sweat and tears.

By late summer, an owl with a letter from Hogwarts came by. The new headmaster, Severus Snape, wrote to every parent, ensuring the safety of their children during the school year. Of course Mrs. Weasley didn't want Ginny to return to school with fear of retaliation against her because of her brother running away to help Harry Potter, but Mr. Weasley and the other Order members convinced her to let her go. After all, even controlled by dark forces, Hogwarts was the safest place in the world. And they would never kill a pure blood student if they could avoid it.

Then she returned to Hogwarts. Hoping she could pretend all was well, that it would be a year just like before. But it wasn't, and arriving at Kings Cross was enough to realize it. The platform was almost empty, most were Slytherins. No wonder about it. After all, they were connected with the Dark Lord.

After a long walk through the Hogwarts Express, she finally found the compartment were Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbotton, her best friends, were. "Hi everyone," she greeted as she got into the compartment with her heavy suitcase.

"I'm glad you could join us," said Neville, getting up and grabbing the bag to put it on the support over the seats. He had grown a lot during the summer, looking thinner than Ginny had ever seen him before.

Luna stood up and hugged Ginny, in tears. It wasn't normal to see Luna like this, and it scared Ginny. "What's wrong?" she asked, breaking the hug and grabbing her friend's shoulders.

"Almost no one came. Because of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, all the Muggle-borns had to flee."

"I heard about it," Ginny said, sitting next to Luna in front of Neville. "But who do we know that was affected by it?"

"Dean," answered Neville, arms crossed and serious face.

"But Dean is half-blooded," noticed Ginny, looking away from Luna to face Neville.

"His father's dead, so he couldn't prove anything. He was ruled Muggle-born and had to run away."

"It's true," said Luna, sobbing next to Ginny.

"Oh Merlin, I can't believe my parents didn't tell me. They must have known. And Charlie and George-" _They probably didn't want me to worry_, Ginny thought. She dated Dean from the end of her fourth year through a large part of fifth year. Although she wasn't in love with him anymore, she never wanted something bad to happen to him.

"And now I heard from some of the parents at the Platform that those Carrow siblings will be teaching at Hogwarts," whispered Neville, leaning towards the girls so no one could hear them outside the compartment.

"Are those Death Eaters?" asked Luna, whispering as well.

"Yes, they managed to avoid going to Azkaban when Who-Know-Who disappeared, but when he came back they went back to their old ways," he explained, and Ginny asked herself how did he know so much about this stuff.

The Express was almost arriving to Hogwarts when Ginny excused herself so she could go dress her uniform. When she was leaving the bathroom, she got face to face with none other than the platinum-haired Malfoy heir, Draco.

"I thought they weren't letting blood traitors come back to Hogwarts," he hissed towards her, disgust printed on his face.

"And I thought you were going to spend the year licking your Dark Lord's boots," she answered, chin up, trying to look corageous although she wasn't really feeling like that, given that Malfoy was probably a Death Eater by know.

"Oh, you will regret saying that, little Miss Weasley" he said, putting the tip of his wand under her chin.

"And you will regret it if I throw a Bat-Bogey Hex on you again, Malfoy," she hissed back, hoping the reminder of the confrontation at Umbridge's office would help her somehow. He leaned forward so their eyes would meet and almost thouched her small freckled nose with his white pointy one. She could feel the smell of roses nd perfume on him.

After a long stare, he walked a step back, not taking his eyes from her. "You may go now. But you better watch out your smart tongue, or someday I will have to cut it out from you."

Ginny walked past him, bumping purposely on his shoulder, her face warm from the confrontation. Oh, how deeply did she hate him.

In a flick of time they were in Hogwarts again, entering the Great Hall so they would have the Sorting of the First Year kids. In every hallway was at least one Death Eater, Ginny could tell from their marked forearms. She knew she mustn't confront them, because they wouldn't have a problem cursing her, and she was certain Snape wouldn't object anyways.

She sat at the Gryffindor table near Neville, Parvati Patil and Lavander Brown. Their table wasn't the most empty, but a lot of pleople from various years were missing. Especially the rounded glasses she was internally hoping to see.

The Hufflepuff table was the most empty of the four tables. Probably was the one with most Muggle-born students. And obviously the Slythering table was cramming, since every student there got to prove they had at least one wizard parent.

The small number of eleven year-olds came in, they were probably 30 by Ginny's math. Most went to Slytherin, then a few went to Ravenclaw, five went to Hufflepuff and four to Gryffindor. Two boys and two girls, trying to look confident as they walked towards the rather small number of house mates waiting for them.

They were received with as much joy as everyone in the table could give them at the time. But the happy talk was soon interrupted by Snape, who wanted to give his first speech as headmaster.

"Welcome new and old students to Hogwars," he started in his low and characteristic paused and nasal voice. "This year will prove to be rather different than any other year before. As you know, the Dark Lord has rised from the darkness and his mission to purify our world has began. Every and each one of you constitute the promise of the great objective we are pretending to acheive. However, we won't tolerate any kind of deviating behaviour, and we have new responsible people to educate each student who atempts to disturb the peace in Hogwarts, our Deputy Headmasters, Alecto and and Amycus Carrow.

"Because of the small number of students coming back this year, we decided the smaller years will start having classes together. The first year will be alone because they will be starting a new exciting journey, but the second and third year will attend classes together, as well as sixth and seventh year.

"The teachers will try to keep the work in a rythm that allows lower year students to keep up with the older years, while the older years will have the chance to keep mastering the classes. Muggle Studies were decided to be mandatory to every student, and Defense Against the Dark Arts is now.

"I hope this year will prove that each one of you is the wizard this new world needs, and that the school year can go on without disturbances of greater kind. You may resume your feast now."

He sat between two people Ginny supposed to be the Carrow siblings, and the food appeared in front of them like every year before. When she glanced up from the lamb, she saw Draco Malfoy's icy eyes looking straight at her from the other side of he Great Hall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

She was late. As always, she was late and she had to run past the students coming out from the Great Hall so she could grab her class schedule and a muffin to eat on the way. She looked down at the paper as she was leaving, and sighted. Potions. _Great_.

Not that she hated potions, but she wasn't really fond of the dungeons. Professor Slughorn was one of her favorite teachers since he came to teach last year, so she tried to convence herself it would be fine.

And she wasn't really happy having classes with the Seventh year.

She didn't understand why they decided to team up the classes. Together they were about 90 students, so they would have to divide them into different classes anyway. Maybe they didn't have enough teachers to teach them all if they were separated. Yes, it was that, she assured herself. She noticed some teachers were missing last night.

When she got to the class, Professor Slughorn was already waving his wand while words were appearing on the black chalk board. The door cranked as she walked in, and he looked at her, a smile forming on his lips.

"Miss Weasley, thank you for joining us today." He looked around the room. "You may sit next to Mr. Malfoy, please."

Ginny looked at the crowded room and met Malfoy's eyes. She didn't even need to be near him to see the anger in his long face. But still, she walked towards the table and sat next to him, Neville and Luna watching worried from two tables to her left.

"And we meet again, Weasley," he said, tapping the table with his long fingers.

"Unfortunatelly for both, Malfoy," she answered, without looking at him.

"So," continued Professor Slughorn, returning to what he was saying, "Look at your table partner and introduce yourself if you don't know them, please."

Reluctantly, Ginny turned to face Malfoy, who said, "No need to tell me your Muggle loving hobbies, blood traitor", and she felt compelled to answer, but bit her lower lip hard so no word would leave her mouth.

"... And I asked you this because from now on the person next to you will be your Potions permanent partner."

Ginny saw Malfoy's eyes get wider as they could get, and turned in her chair to face the teacher. Many students were complaining about the news, especially Malfoy. But Slughorn raised his hand so everyone would shut up and said, "It's the rule. No trades. Who you get is who you get, and you must try to work with it. It's everyone's grades on the line here."

"Great, now I'm stuck with this stupid blood traitor" Malfoy muttered, tossing the potions book on the table.

"Call me blood traitor again and you'll see what I'll do to your face," she hissed, angrily looking at him.

Draco faced her. "Remember you don't have the golden trio watching out for you anymore."

"I can fight my own fights," she answered, and he must have realized there was no gaining in keeping the exchange of words, because he oppened the page 136 of the book and started to brew the potion alone.

They didn't speak for the rest of the class. But before Slubghorn excused them from the class, he said, "There will be a new challenge every week during the year, so you will have to do them outside the classroom time. And don't forget it's a pair work, so you will have to work alongside your permanent partner. You may leave now."

The characteristic sound of the chairs being pulled away emerged, not letting Ginny think or hear. She instintively looked at Malfoy, that whispered, low enough so anyone would hear, "When the first challenge is given, don't come looking for me. I will contact you to arrange a meeting."

Ginny raised her eyebrow, grabbed her bag and answered, "Whatever, Malfoy."

She turned her back on him and left the room with Luna and Neville. Luna grabbed her arm, "Malfoy, hm?"

"I can't believe my luck," she complained, feeling miserable. "Malfoy, from all the people. This year will be hell."

"Not because of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, right Ginny?" mocked Neville, wich granted him a painful poke.

"Don't be stupid. You shouldn't be kidding with stuff like that," Luna seemed kind of upset about Neville's remark. She wasn't as bubbly as she used to be, and Ginny got that she was probably terrified.

The rest of the day went smoothly, with Ginny always being careful about who she was seating next to, just in case any other teacher would pull a Slughorn again.

That night, laying in her bed on her almost empty dorm room at the Gryffindor's tower, she couldn't manage to avoid the thoughts she didn't let herself think during the day.

She feared everyone looked at her differently now. Because she was so envolved with Harry and Ron and Hermione. They were her best friends, and everybody knew that. She noticed the stares when she walked by, the whispering, although Luna and Neville always found a way to distract her from that.

But in the quiet dorm, Harry's pale face in the front page of the newspaper came around again, and she couldn't keep the tears inside. Where were they? Some florest in Scotland? Went away to France or another country? Transfigurated in a city far away, running from Death Eaters? Would she ever receive any news from them again?

And, how could they leave her behind? Harry always looked at her as a little girl who needed supervision all the time. Like she couldn't take care of herself. Ever since the Tom Riddle's diary fiasco.

Although she loved Harry, that was the thing that anoyied her the most. She had already proven her value before, during the Dumbledore's Army practices and when they entered the Ministry of Magic. She showed him she was a powerfull witch, and he still refused to acknowledge that. Sometimes, she felt the need to break free from his grasp.

Maybe that year would be her chance to do that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

The next day was even worse.

Starting with Muggle Studies, now mandatory, Ginny felt like crying the whole class. Alecto Carrow was just vomiting the whole anti-Muggle propaganda from the Ministry, and she couldn't even believe someone would ever believe Muggles were inferior beings and should be treated like animals so wizards could reign.

Some girls in the back of the room couldn't stop sobbing during the whole class. Alecto came near them after a while, and asked if they were crying because they were so disgusted with the truth about Muggles. Since none of them answered, she told them they better stop crying soon or they would be attending Detention that afternoon.

Ginny felt a weight in her chest when she left the class. It was outrageous. Too insane to even comprehend it. And while her morning was terrible, her afternoon was even worse.

She attended the Dark Arts class, teached by Alecto's brother, Amycus. And after a long speech about the Dark Arts they would be learning, Ginny understood why there was a little boy in the back of the room. _Ginnea Pigs_.

"Mr. Alegorth here decided to get smart with his Muggle Studies teacher yesterday," said Amycus, grabbing the second year student's shoulder and pushing him to the front of the class, "So he was granted Detention. From now on, depending on the infraction, most students will attend our Dark Arts class to be our hex subjects on their Detention time. Today I won't ask you to punish him, I will do it for you."

Amycus turned around to face the boy, who was crying from fear, rose his wand and a red flaming light hit him, trowing him to the ground, rolling over and beginning to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side, and his crying filled the whole room with terror.

Ginny listened Luna grasping for air next to her, covering her mouth with her hands, while she tried her best not to look at the scene. A few meters away, Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle were watching attentively, as if letting everything skink in. But while Crabbe and Goyle wore open smiles on their horrible faces, Malfoy was impassive, his head leaning to his right, his lips so strongly pressed they were almost invisible.

When the class was over, Ginny ran for the nearest bathroom and closed herself on a stall, hyperventilating. She tried desperately to start breathing normally again, her hands closed into fists, fighting the urge to punch a wall. When she felt better, she left the stall and looked at the reflection in the mirror, feeling disgusted about herself. How could she? How could she let that monstrous man hurt that poor child?

But she knew she couldn't do anything. Every day new kids would enter her classroom and many others, and would be punished, or worse, taken to the dungeons and chained to the ceilings or something horrible like that. And she taking a stand would be worse, she was sure they were only looking for an excuse to punish her, if being a member of a known Muggle lover family and linked to Harry Potter wasn't enough.

She left the bathroom and saw Malfoy leaning on the wall in front of the door, looking like he had been there for a while. When she closed the door, he looked around to see if there was anyone in the corridor, and walked towards her. "Slughorn posted the first challenge in the Dungeons. Expect a message from me tomorrow morning."

And he left her with her mouth open, walking fast and disappearing in a corner. She still stared at the end of the corridor for a long time, but then decided it was best to walk to her next class.

The next morning, while she was getting ready to go have breakfast, an owl entered the dorm though the window, leaving a letter on top of her pillow and exiting right after. She picked it up, and saw her name written in a neat handwriting, and she didn't even need to turn it around and see the Malfoy monogram to know from who it was. She opened the letter and read its content.

"_Weasley,_

_Since the first challenge is due next week, we should meet today to start working on it. I suggest the Potions classroom. I already spoke with Slughorn and he gave us permission to go after classes._

_Don't be late._

_Malfoy"_

She stuck the letter inside a book and picked up her bag, leaving the dorm. When she entered the Great Hall, Malfoy was sitting at the Slytherin table, and didn't even look at her direction once.

When the afternoon classes were over, Ginny ran to the dungeons, trying to distract herself from her fears. When she got to the Potions classroom, she saw Malfoy waiting for her by the door. He must've finished classes early, because he wasn't wearing his Slytherin uniform. Instead, he was wearing a black long sleeved shirt and blue jeans. Ginny thought she never once saw Malfoy so casual before.

"You are late," he hissed at her, grabbing her by the elbow and pushing her inside the room. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

"Hey!" she cried, pulling her arm from his grip. Malfoy approached the table with his caldron, ingredients and books, and she stayed in the same place, starting to speak, "Malfoy, we need to talk about something."

He turned around, his eyebrow rised. "What?"

"Well, this will not be a one time thing," she started, gesticulating to the room, while walking towards the table and putting her brown bag over it, "and I don't think it will be helpful if we keep on bickering with each other every time we need to work. I was thinking when we're here we can leave Malfoy and Weasley outside the door, and just be Draco and Ginny, Potions partners."

Draco leaned on the table, his arms crossed in front of his chest, looking up while thinking about what she said. "I think you have a point, Weasley."

"I think we will profit from putting our diferences aside this time," she continued, and he nodded.

"Then it's decided, Weasl- Ginny," he offered her his hand for a handshake, wich she was surprised by. She never thought her speech would have such an effect on him so fast.

She took his hand, and they resumed their work silently.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

While he still found ways to harass her outside classes, Malfoy was being very cordial with Ginny behind closed doors. The first weeks were awkward, but she managed to start looking at him at those moments like Draco, her Potions partner, and not Malfoy, the You-Know-Who fanboy.

With every challenge they had to do together, she was feeling more and more comfortable in his presence. She started to realize the time she was with him was the only one when she didn't need to block away her Harry related thoughts, because she wouldn't have them at all.

They wouldn't admit they were getting close, but in a few weeks they started speaking about other things different than Potions. Very trivial subjects, like classes and Quidditch.

One afternoon they were waiting for their potion to brew, and he told her he got really impressed the first time he watched one of her Quidditch matches as a seeker, the former year. She thanked him for the compliment, and told him about the long years trying to play with her brothers or playing by herself.

He listened with interest, and shared that he wasn't a really big fan of Quidditch, "In fact, I only started playing to challenge Potter..."

Ginny froze when he mentioned Harry. Those meetings were her free time from worrying about him, and she started getting mad at Malfoy for mentioning him. "I- I didn't mean to-" started Malfoy, but she cut him fast.

"Don't worry. You can talk about him. It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything," she said, turning her neon pink quill on her fingers.

"I thought you two were a couple," he said, without showing any emotion on his long face.

"Not that it's any of your business, he broke up with me before before summer started," she explained, putting down the quill on the table. She felt his hand hovering hers, and she felt grateful that he decided not to touch her. They stayed silent for a moment, and then he reclined on his chair and his cocky look found it's way back to his face.

"I don't get what you see in him. He's a four-eyed half goblin with an ugly scar on his forehead. And pure-blood speaking, you should find someone more on your level," he said, taping his fingers on the top of the table.

"Like whom? You?" she asked, suppressing a laugh.

"I have higher standards than a blood traitor," he said, matter of factly, and she couldn't even manage to get offended by his remark.

"And I have higher standards than a ferret-person," she answered, and saw a bit of color cover his cheeks. She noticed he was still embarrassed by his transfiguration into a ferret back in his forth year.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't funny," she apologized, trying not to laugh.

Malfoy shrugged. "I guess I'm used to it by now."

"Being a ferret comes as natural to you as loving Muggles comes to my family," she joked, and after a moment of pouting, he joined her.

Ginny tried to keep their meetings a secret from her friends, but it was hard when they were always asking were she was, especially because they were starting to assemble Dumbedore's Army again.

In two weeks, they had their first reunion. Most of the old members were scared of getting found again, but joined anyway. And most surprisingly, the one who was leading now was Neville.

As he was speaking to the group, Ginny was just looking at him. Neville changed so much over night. He used to be so small, and chubby, always walking with his toad Trevor and his Mimbulus Mimbletoniaaround, always afraid of being picked on. And now he was tall, courageous, new hope for the kids in Hogwarts.

"I suggest we keep using the fake galleons to contact each other when needed," said Luna. "I can make new ones for the new members. Hermione showed me how to do it."

"That's a great idea, Luna," said Neville, smiling at her. Ginny noticed they were exchanging a lot of glances lately, and she found it quite amusing, but didn't had the time to annoy Luna about it.

Michael Corner got up and said, "Some of us are still afraid of being caught. We need to know what we will be doing for real, because this won't be like having the Dumbledore's Army reunions like last year. Being closed in a room won't protect anyone but ourselves, and we can't stay in here forever."

"Michael, I think what Neville wants us to do is start a mysterious rebellion," explained Ginny, getting up from her seat as well. "We can leave messages written in walls. We can try to free students who are being tortured. We can teach the smaller kids how to avoid getting punished, or refuse to hurt another classmate.

"And we teach them how to defend themselves, if they want to. If needed, we can lead by exemple and try to protect others even if we are the ones getting the Crucicatus curse next."

"That's easy to say, but I don't think any of us would get in the way of the Carrows if we can avoid it", spoke a Ravenclaw girl.

"Then you are not fit to be a part of this," answered Ginny, crossing her arms. She took a moment and observed the many faces staring at her across the room. They were afraid. They needed the courage Harry used to give them. They were lacking hope of everything getting better again. And she knew she couldn't do much to change it, but she wouldn't go down without a fight. "Harry, Ron and Hermione are out there in the run for us. They are trying to protect us, to save us from this. And believe me when I say most of the wizard world don't deserve salvation. Now all we can do is try to make them proud, try to change from the inside of Hogwarts, and confront our fears."

Everyone went silent for a while, and Ginny felt amazing for saying what she was thinking for once. She knew the trio would be proud of her. She wasn't very courageous all the time, but she decided if Neville managed to be, she had to give it a try. And he was looking at her with nothing but proud in his eyes, so she felt she did great.

A few minutes after, everyone left for dinner, and Ginny sat next to Neville.

"Everything seemed so easy when Harry was leading," said Neville, with a sigh.

"I know," agreed Ginny, giving him an half smile. "Everything's very different without them here."

"I really miss them." Neville looked at Ginny and rested his hand on her shoulder.

Ginny looked at her jeans, trying to look strong and calm. "I really miss them too."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

The end of October was near, and with it came Halloween. There's no need to remind any witch or wizard to celebrate their day, it's just like Christmas. Every year there was a feast in Hogwarts, and most years something happened during it. But this year everyone already knew they wouldn't do anything to celebrate it.

But the week before, during dinner, Snape rose up to speak. He cleared his voice and stared at the students, saying, "As you all know, next Friday is Halloween. In Hogwarts we always celebrate with a feast, but this year will be different. While many thought we wouldn't celebrate anything, this is an important date to the wizarding world, so it was decided there will be a masquerade ball. Unfortunately, it's not safe to let the students visit Hogsmeade in the weekend, so the visit will be delayed until further notice. You may resume your dinners."

He sat again and Lavender Brown turned to face Ginny, her golden locks looking like waves around her heart-shaped face. "A masquerade? That's bloody awesome! Except, we don't have any costumes to wear. And we can't go to Hogsmeade..."

"We will have to be creative," answered Parvati Patil, before starting to eat.

Ginny just sat looking at the food on her plate. That was weird. She had been so sure they wouldn't do anything to celebrate Halloween this year. And it didn't seem to be Snape's ideia.

The week passed fast, between DA meetings on the Requirement Room and her own study sessions with Malfoy. There were almost any infractions during that week, because all students were being extra nice so they would get to attend the masquerade ball. Walking down the corridors, Ginny could feel the high spirits, and it felt like nothing ever happened during the summer.

She walked inside the Potions classroom, and Malfoy was already brewing the potion. She closed the door and threw her bag on the floor, sitting next to him. "Thanks for waiting for me."

"You're late. I thought you weren't coming anymore," he answered, without taking his eyes from the cauldron.

"I- I had to help Luna with a thing for tonight," she said, and she was lying. There was an emergency DA meeting about the ball and she had to attend.

"It's okay," Malfoy didn't seem to care, and his expression remained the same.

Ginny took some slugs and started cutting them with a knife, and he looked at her to watch what she was doing. "So, are you going to the masquerade?" he asked, seeming uninterested.

"Yes, I am," she answered, absentminded, picking a second slug from the bowl.

"And do you have a date?" Ginny almost cut off one of her fingers when she heard his question, but tried to keep her cool.

"No, I do not. Flying solo tonight," she answered, resuming her cutting, without looking at him.

"Hm." He looked again to the inside of the cauldron and stirred the mix with the wooden spoon.

"What about you?" she asked, putting down the knife.

"Me? I'm going alone," he looked at her without smiling.

"I thought you would go with someone like... Pansy Parkinson or something. Aren't you supposed to be the big Hogwarts' bachelor?" she got up and added the slugs to he mix.

"Is that what they say about me?" he let a small smile go through his thin lips. "No, I won't be going with Pansy or something."

"I thought you two were together since, forever," Ginny sat and cleaned her hands to a dirty rag that they kept close.

"We dated for a while," he started drawing eights with his fingernail on the top of the table, avoiding eye contact. "But she realized she was better off with someone else."

"When did that happen?" she couldn't control herself, and the question left her lips before she could stop it.

Malfoy looked at her with his cold grey eyes. "When I told her I would never marry her because she's not good enough for me."

They were silent for a moment, and Ginny bursted into laugher. "For Merlin's sake, Draco, you really are a catch."

"That does not correspond to the names she called me at the time," he had an amusing smile on his face, watching her laugh.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed," she apologized, trying to stop smiling, but she couldn't. The image of Malfoy letting Pansy Parkinson down like that was like gold.

They barely talked for the next half hour, and when they finished the potion and writing the report, he picked up his stuff. "I'm afraid I need to leave now."

"You go, I'll stay and clean everything," Ginny rose up with him, and they looked awkwardly at each other.

"Right. Thank you." He put his bag on his shoulder and walked to the door.

"See you tonight at the ball! I'll be the girl with the mask," she joked, feeling stupid about herself the moment the words left her mouth, grabbing her skirt and trying not to blush.

He looked back before leaving, with an enigmatic expression on his face. "See you tonight, then," and left.

She had decided to wear the same dress she wore to Fleur and Charlie's wedding. The thing she lacked, being closed at Hogwarts, was a mask. But Luna resolved that with some nights working on transfiguring some sleeping eye patches.

There wasn't anyone like Luna when it came to charms and spells, only Hermione for sure. So her mask was perfect and beautiful, and fit Ginny's face perfectly. The girls got together at nine o'clock near the Great Hall doors, and entered together. Luna decided to wear a long sleeveless pink dress, and her dirigible plums earrings.

The Great Hall was already packed with students and teachers, and two masked Death Eaters were guarding the doors inside. Ginny recognized Neville's goofy walk and pulled Luna towards him.

"Neville, hi!" she yelled, trying to be heard over the Spellbound's song.

"Ladies!" Neville put his arms around both of their shoulders and started guiding them to the food table.

The Great Hall was beautifully decorated for the occasion. Thousands of candles were levitating in the air brightening the space, and orange, yellow and black were the theme colors. Charmed pumpkins decorated the smaller tables, singing, talking and spooking students. Near the tall windows, you could see bats resting upside down, and Ginny though they were probably charmed rubber toys. Through the windows, you could see the beautiful view of the Hogwarts gardens lighted by the almost full moon, it's silver gleam glowing on the Lake. The food table occupied all the space where the teacher's table used to be, and it was full of sweets, various foods, butter beer and red punch. There was a big dancing area, where a bunch of people were already moving to the tunes, joined by the various school ghosts.

"You both look very fine this evening. Meeting some boys, are we?" joked Neville, picking a glass of punch.

"Of course not!" squeaked Luna, turning red behind her pink mask. "I mean, I am not. And Ginny is dating Harry, so that would be, like, cheating."

"I am not dating Harry" Ginny sounded annoyed. "He broke up with me, and he left. So I can meet some boy if I want to."

Both Neville and Luna looked at her with what she thought was pity in their eyes. She had been dumped by the most important wizard in history. What a loser.

Since they didn't say anything else, Ginny turned her back on them and sat on a table alone. The pumpkin in the center was making faces at her, wich distracted Ginny from what was happening around her. Suddenly someone touched her shoulder and she jumped on her seat, turning to look at the stranger.

He was tall with dark hair, and a simple white mask was covering his face. He wore a black tuxedo with a white bow tie, and white gloves. "May I have this dance?" he asked, and she knew that voice, but couldn't quite place it. While looking at him, not able to see his face in the semi-darkness, she decided, what was the harm in dancing for a little while? She was protected. He couldn't hurt her here anyway.

"Sure," she got up and followed him to the dance floor. The song was fast so they moved around for a while. She never understood why people liked to dance to fast songs. It was so embarrassing, and you couldn't even speak to other people.

But the song changed and became a slow, so he grabbed her hand and pushed her towards him. She let a small skirl out and grabbed his shoulder for support. They started moving awkwardly, and they didn't speak. But suddenly he bended down to her ear and whispered, "I told you I would see you tonight."

She moved her head away and stared into his eyes. The grey stared back at her. "Draco, how did you-"

"Transfiguration," he explained, smiling. "I didn't want anyone to know it was me. It's fun pretending to be someone else, and the masks were the best help ever."

"I don't get why you need to do this," she said, and he shrugged.

"For starts, I couldn't spend time with you if everyone knew who I was. A Malfoy and a Weasley together in public? That's a recipe for natural disaster..."

"I have to agree," she thought about what everyone would say. Luna would be astonished. Neville would call her insane. Her brothers would lock her in a room until she was forty. Her Mother and Father would give her a lecture about the old family drama. And Harry... Harry wouldn't look at her ever again.

"... and the spell will wear off in a couple of hours, so it's no problem, really," he pulled her hand and made her twirl, then grabbed her by the waist and dipped her, leaning towards her.

Her red flaming hair almost touched the ground, and she felt goosebumps on her arms, his face so near she could feel his breath. "I was hoping you would agree to take a walk with me."

He pushed her back to standing and she stopped him from continuing to dance. "Take a walk where?"

"Outside, to the front lawn," he said, looking confused at her.

"I thought we weren't supposed to go outside," she recalled, and noticed some people starting to stare at them.

"I know a guy," Malfoy whispered, while smiling at her.

Ginny looked around. Neville and Luna watched her from the food table, waiting on her next move. She could see they were hoping she would join them, but she wasn't into having a pity party anymore.

So she grabbed Malfoy's hand and said, "Take me out of here then."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

And that's what he did.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the doors. When one of the Death Eaters tried to stop them, Malfoy leaned towards him and whispered on his ear. He then looked at his mate and made a head sign, and let them both walk out of the Great Hall.

They walked down the front gate's stairs jumping, he pulled her while running and they only stopped near the first big tree in the lawn, only four meters away from the entrance. She fell on the grass on her knees, gasping for air and laughing at the same time, while he stopped looking at the moon, without taking his mask off.

While she was calming her breathing, she noticed his dark hair on the moonlight looked a lot more lighter than it did inside the Great Hall, and the mask reflected so much light she couldn't even see his eyes. He looked down at her and smiled, sitting next to her and taking a flask from his coat's inside pocket.

He opened it and took a sip, and then offered her the flask. She took it but looked suspiciously at him. "What's inside?"

"Whiskey," he said, leaning on the tree.

"How did you manage to get your hands into this?" she asked, resting the bottle on her lap.

"Again, I know a guy," he answered, taking off the mask and closing his eyes.

"I always forget you are on a first name basis with all those Death Eaters inside," she sounded strangely dark, so he opened his eyes and looked at her.

"I'm sorry, it's the world we live in right now. The evil has triumphed, and I can take advantage of it."

"Please don't make me discuss _that_ with you," Ginny asked, moving to sit next to him. "But at least tell me, why did this party happen?"

"What?" he asked, looking at her, confused.

"The party," Ginny insisted. "At times like this, there's no reason to throw a big masquerade. And I know you know things."

He turned his head. "Even if I did know anything, I couldn't discuss it with you."

"Come on," she slapped his shoulder gently. "Share it with me. I know you are aching to say it out loud."

"I heard they were looking for rebels. More exactly, for Potter," he answered after a moment meditating on the subject.

"That's dumb," stated Ginny, surprised he didn't sugar coated it. "Why would he be hiding in Hogwarts? That's the last place he would ever be-"

"Exactly," he cut her, looking tense. "If you're not going to drink, at least let me," he joked, changing the subject, grabbing the flask and drinking from it.

"I don't know why you would like to drink that," she turned her head to face him, and saw him running his hand through his darker hair.

"It helps me see things clearer," he said, looking at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked, and he sighted.

"It makes me wonder if this is all worth it. The whole world has been in so much pressure lately. But I'm in too deep now to back down now."

Ginny looked at the clouds on the dark purple sky, and tried to put herself in his shoes. It must be hard, being a Malfoy, she thought. His dad must expect a lot from him, even more now that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back in full power. He always seemed to be this though evil guy from the outside, but she knew now that wasn't for real.

"I hope everything get's easier," she said, feeling his eyes scrutinize her without the need to look back at him.

"Why are you being nice to me, Weasley?" he asked, turning the flask in his hands.

She turned her head to look back at him. "Because I don't think you're the bad guy you want everyone to think you are."

He was opening his mouth when they heard the commotion inside the castle. He rose, and a dark figure came to the gate, and said, "You two better come inside right now."

Ginny recognized Amycus Carrow's voice and thought they were so screwed. Malfoy grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside the gates, and when they walked by the teacher, she heard Malfoy say "Amycus," and the other answer "Draco."

And they continued walking into the crowd of students coming outside the Great Hall. Everyone was looking at something Ginny couldn't quite see because of all the heads. She felt herself being pulled to the front, and Malfoy didn't let go of her wrist when they got to the front. Nothing could have prepared her for what she found written on the wall, in bright red.

_Dumbledore's Army, still recruiting._

She looked around for Neville or Luna, but didn't find any. A strange dark man shoved her aside while walking to see the message closer, and Malfoy had to grab her arm so she wouldn't fall. He was wearing black and his dark was was slicked back, his small eyes looking to the wall with curiosity. He has Death Eater written all over him.

Few seconds later Snape came to the front and sent everyone for their dormitories, on the penalty of being sent to the Forbidden Forrest for a walk. Malfoy didn't say anything to her when he turned and left for the dungeons, and she started walking the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, but was stopped by Professor McGonagall.

"Miss Weasley, may I have a word?" she asked in her polite and low voice, and Ginny followed her away from the crowd of students.

"Do you need something, Professor?" she asked, noticing the worry on the teacher's face.

"Yes, Miss Weasley, you must ask your colleagues to be careful," she whispered, and Ginny was puzzled.

"What do you mean-"

"I know you are a part of the Dumbledore's Army. You, and Longbottom and many others. I know you want to show how much you hate this situation. You should remember Professor Spane also knows every member of the Dumbledore's Army due to your little stunt last year. And both Carrows won't take long to find out. You will become a target very soon, so please be careful. We can't afford to lose anyone right now," McGonagall looked at Ginny with glowing eyes while holding her hand.

Ginny looked from their hands back to McGonagall, and nodded. "I will."

McGonagall let go of her and resumed her serious face. "Now, go to the Common Room, child!"

Ginny turned and ran to the Gryffindor tower, where she found Neville sitting on the old red couch waiting for her. She took off her mask and threw it over a table, and sat near him, saying, "That had 'Neville Longbottom' written all over it."

"Did you like our new form of advertising?" he asked, while laughing.

Ginny punched his shoulder, angry. "Don't be stupid! What if you got caught? They would have killed you!"

"It was worth the shot!" he said, trying to evade her punches without success.

"McGonagall told me to be careful," she said, still visibly angry. "And we need to be. I get why you did it but it was still risky."

"And we will be careful, while still doing it," he told her, his eyes burning with the fire from the fireplace. "I already talked to some of the boys and we will leave these messages around from time to time. Kids need to know we still stand. We are their only hope, Gin."

She looked at the fire, biting her lip. She understood his motives, but she still thought it was too risky. But he was a grown man and knew the risks he was willing to take. "Okay," she sighted. "Just be careful, please. I don't want to be looking for a new leader anytime soon."

Neville put his arm around her shoulders and smiled at her. "I promise everything will be just fine. And I promise I won't tell Harry about your misterious dancing partner."

Ginny laughed and tried to hit him again, but Neville had already ran up to his dormitory. She sat looking at the fire and thinking about the events of the night. Somehow inside her chest, she knew this was the start of something big that was slowly building in the horizon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII**

She ran to the Requirement Room as fast as she could. She didn't even worry about the few students on the corridors that watched her go pass them. The sound of her shoes tapping on the floor echoed around her, reminding her how late she was.

Neville would kill her if she was late again to a meeting. But Professor Slughorn issued a second potion challenge, so she and Malfoy had an emergency study session that afternoon. And it seemed to take more and more time writing the reports and cleaning the classroom than before. Maybe it was because they spent most of the time talking instead of focusing on other things.

She entered the room, and only Luna and Neville were there. She looked confused at them, red from the run, her red hair all messed up around her freckled face. "Where's everybody?"

"They already left," Neville was sitting on the top of a table, and looked kind of upset.

"I'm so sorry, I had Potions work, again," she said, sitting next to Luna, who was reading the new edition of her father's publication, The Quibbler.

"It's fine," he said, getting up. "We just brainstormed for a while. I've just been thinking that we should do something to help Harry, you know? He's out there doing Merlin knows what..."

"I wish Dumbledore was alive. He would tell us what to do," Luna sighted, resting the magazine on her knees.

Ginny had to agree. Dumbledore always knew what to do. He was one of the most influential people in Harry's life, always showing him the way to go, even if through mysterious ways. And then, something clicked inside her mind.

"Oh, Luna, you're a genius " she said, jumping on her seat. "I remembered the Minister of Magic came to our house on Harry's birthday, to give them Dumbledore's will. Mom told us to leave but I stayed listening with the Extendable Ears. He seemed to be upset over the stuff Dumbledore left Harry, Ron and Hermione. I bet there's a connection to everything."

Neville and Luna eyes were as round as marbles, and he asked, "So, what did Dumbledore left them?!"

Ginny tried to recall everything, but a lot of events from the summer seemed blurred. "I think he left... a copy of The Tales of Bleedle the Bard to Hermione, a Deluminator to Ron, a snitch to Harry ... there was another one," she tried desperately to remember it, and then a flash of her first year came to her mind. "Gryffindor's sword!"

"Gryffindor's sword? Why would Dumbledore leave that to Harry?" Luna wondered.

"He left it because it must serve some purpose to their journey! I bet it's still in his office!" Neville was so excited that he kept jumping from one foot to another. "I say we should go and try to steal it."

"And then how are we going to give it to Harry?" asked Ginny, wary.

"I don't know," Neville turned to face her. "It doesn't matter, we will find a way to do it. But we should go pick it up now."

"But what if Snape is in the office?" Luna seemed scared, cleaning her sweaty palms to her dark uniform skirt.

"He isn't," said Neville. "I heard him say to the Carrow's he would be out for the night. He's probably with You-Know-Who. I bet this is the best moment to get it."

"It's dinner time, so no one would notice," Ginny's eyes lighted up, and she smiled. "Let's go then!"

The two of them left the room running, and Luna followed, mumbling about how wrong this was. But Ginny didn't care. The adrenaline rush was speeding through her veins, just thinking about helping Harry in some way.

They got to the entrance of the office, and stared at the big griffin gargoyle. "What is the password?" asked Luna.

Ginny blushed when her eyes locked with Neville's. She didn't even think about the password. "It must be something relevant to Snape. Something he thinks no one know about him", suggested Neville, with his hand on his chin.

Ginny started thinking about something relevant she heard from Harry, Ron or Hermione. She remembered the days talking to Harry about anything and everything. And then she thought about something he told her about Snape.

"I know the password!" she said, looking at the statue with a determined look. "Lilian Evans."

The gargoyle moved and the stairs appeared. The trio ran all the way to the top, until they entered Dumbledore's office. Everything was the same as always, one could almost think the late headmaster was still alive, could feel his presence everywhere.

When Ginny looked at the old wood desk, she saw it. She ran towards it, but when she was just a footstep away, her hand so close she could feel the cold shiver of the metal on her fingertips, something happened. A loud noise started souding on her ears, so strong she had to cover them, without success. She tried to look for Luna and Neville, trying to see if they were listening to it as wel. But when she moved her head, all she could see was Snape's dark robe in front of her.

And then she heard his voice. "I think it's best if you sit in a chair, Miss Weasley."

Already sitting between Neville and Luna, Ginny was feeling stupid. Of course he would have enchanted the sword so no one could take it. How could she be so careless? She's a witch, for Merlin's sake!

"Does any of you care to tell me why you decided to trespass my office?" Snape asked in his calm and monotone voice, while walking in circles in front of them.

No one answered. "I see," he continued, "It looks like you three lost your tongues suddenly. I should just send you to Professor Carrow, but I won't given it's your first transgression and he had to leave Hogwarts in an emergency."

A weight lift from Ginny's chest when she heard that. "But you still have to be punished. So I will send you to the Forbidden Forest for a walk with Professor Hagrid."

There's no need to say that Ginny wasn't amused. She considered herself a strong girl, but she was still a little afraid of going inside the Forbidden Forest. She followed Snape to Hagrid's cabin. Snape knocked strongly on the door, that was open by Hagrid itself.

"Evenin', Headmaster Snape," he greeted, not looking very amused.

"Professor Hagrid, I found these three students trespassing on my office. I thought visiting the Forbidden Forrest would teach them a small lesson." Snape grabbed them by the collars and forced them to confront Hagrid.

"Oh Merlin," Hagrid said when he saw Ginny, Neville and Luna in front of him. "Don' worry, Headmaster. I'll teach 'em a lesson."

Snape turned around and disappeared in the night. Hagrid closed his door, looking even more angry than before. "Yeh don' know how to stay away from trouble, d'you?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII**

In that same night, Neville decided Dumbledore's Army should take a break for a while. He also felt embarrassed for letting himself get caught so easily. Ginny still didn't fully understand why Snape was so soft on them.

Hagrid was angry at them for being so careless, but he didn't punish them further. They took a walk through the calmer parts of the Forrest, and she realized she had been scared of all the stories her siblings told her during their childhood. And that huge spider Ron was always talking about... Maybe it was gone because Ginny sure didn't see it.

When Hagrid left them in front of the castle's door, two hours later, they thanked him for everything. He could have taken them to a worse place, but she knew Hagrid was still soft hearted and always tried to help his students.

The other students were mad at them. Michael Corner even tried to take the lead over the group, with no success. But the error had already been made and they had to take a step back for now.

In a blink of an eye, winter vacations were right around the corner. Ginny thought it was a bittersweet feeling. She would be returning home to her family, but she knew everybody would be scared to death of what could have happened to Ron, Harry and Hermione.

"I think I will take this time to help my father with the magazine," said Luna when both she and Ginny were walking to the Hogwarts Express with their suitcases. "A lot of his helpers decided to leave him. They were afraid of repercussions. But that's the price of telling the truth, right?"

She looked at Ginny with her big blue eyes that looked like glass marbles, and the redhead smiled at her. "Yes, Luna, you're right. We should always do what we can to help Harry and the others."

Luna smiled and held Ginny's arm. "Sometimes I get so jealous of you, you know? You always know what to say and what to do, and always look so strong..."

_If she only knew_, thought Ginny, but didn't answer.

They had to wait for the long line of students to get into the train. She looked around and saw Draco's platinum hair in the line to her right. In that moment, he turned his head to face her and winked. She tried to no blush and focused her attention on Luna, who was still talking about the Quibbler.

They found Neville in a compartment reading a big Herbology book, and joined him. They tried to keep the conversation away from the Army, since they didn't know who could be listening to what they were saying at the moment.

After a couple of hours, the lights went out and the train stopped suddenly. Ginny almost fell down on the floor and Neville had to grab Luna by the arm so she wouldn't fall as well. They started listening to other students talking, and decided to get up and look through the compartiment door to the corridor.

Suddenly, they listened a big bang and a creepy voice echoed through the train. "We're looking for Luna Lovegood. If you want your trip back home to happen as calmly as possible, we suggest she comes to us in five minutes. Or someone will get hurt."

"They're Death Eaters, I'm sure of it," Neville whispered, grabbing Luna's arm. "You shouldn't go. I won't let you."

"I have to, Neville," answered Luna, softly, pushing away his hand. She didn't seem scared at all. "Will you come with me, Ginny?"

"Sure," but Ginny was't that sure she wanted to give her best friend to some Death Eaters. Still, she followed her through the corridor, trying not to look at the faces of the terrified students.

A few meters ahead, she noticed the black robes and characteristic Death Eaters masks, and felt her hart almost stop. She grabbed Luna's arm. "I don't think you should go with them."

"But I have to. They will hurt everyone if I don't. And they will find me anyway. It's easier this way." Luna seemed to strong, but her eyes were full of tears. "Promise me you will look out for Neville? And don't worry, I bet I'll be back in time for classes in January."

Without answering, Ginny let go of her arm. But just before the Death Eater grabbed Luna's shoulder with violence, Ginny cried her name and tried to run towards them. But she couldn't because someone grabbed her arm and didn't let her go after them.

She saw Luna and the two masked men disappear in front of her eyes. Suddenly, her vision became blurred and she felt so much anger she could kill someone in that moment. Her arm was still being held by someone, and she turned around and hit that person as many times as she could with the most strength as she had.

He grabbed both her arms to keep her from harming him anymore. And she realized her eyes were full of tears, and she couldn't stop crying. That's when she heard his soft voice on her ear. "Please, calm down. There's nothing you can do right now."

Without opening her eyes, Ginny let herself be held by him. "They took her, Draco. They took her and I let them. It's all my fault."

He continued holding her and waited for her to calm down. She wondered why he was doing this, everyone could have seen them. He was always so afraid of interacting with her in front of anybody else.

She felt the fabric of his wool jersey on her cheek, and his characteristic smell of roses and soap. His long fingers stroked her red hair, and she could feel his breathing on the top of her head.

She pushed him away gently and wiped her tears with her sleeve. "I need to check on Neville."

She walked by him towards her compartment and heard him say, "She will be okay."

"I sure hope so," she answered, without looking back at him, and continued walking away.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter IX**

The holiday's were awful. Ginny spent the whole time worried about Luna. She never heard from her again since that day on the train. Her mom cried every time someone mentioned Ron. So everybody decided to keep quiet the rest of the time.

Not even George and Fred could lighten up the mood in the Burrow. So they spent a week there and decided to go back to work. For the first time Molly didn't had the spirit to cook, so they had to survive on Fleur's french cooking for the whole time.

The only thing that made Ginny go through that time was the letters she secretly received from Draco. They started coming on the third day back home. He never signed them, just in case someone could intercept them, but she recognized his handwriting easily.

_Dear G_, it read,

_Being back at home sucks. I forgot being here means being alone all the time. I bet having lots of siblings it's fun because you always have someone to keep you company._

_I wish this time will go on faster so we can go back to Hogwarts and to our Potion's homework. I never thought I would say this, but I'm starting to miss it._

_Hey, who am I kidding? The thing I'm starting to miss is you and your bad ginger temper._

Ginny folded the letter after reading it for the millionth time and put it inside a drawer. The worst part was she was starting to miss him too.

It was the day before going back to Hogwarts, and she spent the whole day closed in her room. She only left it when her father came back from work. Ginny ran down the stairs, hoping for some good news about Luna. But when she entered the kitchen area, her father's face already said everything.

"Still nothing on Luna," it was more a conclusion than a question. Mr. Weasley shook his head, looking down and depressed.

"There are so many missing people already. And her father says he wasn't contacter by the Death Eaters, wich I think it's strange."

"Maybe he is afraid to tell?" Ginny asked, sitting in front of him. She knew he was scared, not knowing where Ron was. She was scared too.

She looked up to the location clock. Ron's picture was pointing at "Lost". Where was he, and would he ever come back? And would he bring Harry and Hermione with him?

That night she sat on her desk, picked a white paper and her quill, and started writing a new letter.

_I hope everything is good with you since my last letter._

_I'm glad we're going back to Hogwarts tomorrow, I've been wishing it for a while. It's starting to feel weird being away for so long._

_I guess I'll see you tomorrow at King's Cross. I'll be the red haired girl you can't be seen talking to!_

_G._

Ginny rolled up the paper and looked out the window. His golden owl had been there for the whole day, waiting on her answer. She opened the window and tied the letter to it's leg, and saw it flying back to the Malfoy Manor.

The next morning, her father took her to King's Cross to catch the Hogwarts Express back to school. He kissed her forehead and said, "Don't you mind that I can't accompany you inside? I need to get early to the office."

"No, no problem. See you in the Easter holidays," Ginny smiled and watched her father walk away, sometimes looking back at her and waving, his messed red hair and his old mustard jacket.

Somehow, she felt uneasy. Going back to Hogwarts without Luna wouldn't be the same. She was her best friend. And now she was missing, and it was all her fault for not having the guts to do anything.

She entered the station, blending in the middle of the crowd. When she was near the Platform 9 3/4, she felt a hand grabbing her arm. She stopped, her nerves already telling her who it was.

She felt him bend until his lips were at her ear level, and his warm breath made her shiver. "Hi there, ginger."

She smiled, and answered, "Hi there, albino," and turned to face him.

His face was a mix between confused and amused. "I'm not an albino!"

"Well, you are still awfully pale," they laughed and his hand squeezed her elbow. "How were the rest of your holidays?"

"Extremely lonely," he sighted, straightening his black jacket. She realized he was dressing full black, wich made him look dark and mysterious with his pale face, almost white hair and bright grey eyes, "but my father took me with him to the Ministry once or twice. That was quite a distraction."

"Luckier than me," Ginny said, holding her luggage firmly. "I was stuck at home. And my family was depressed the whole time."

Draco seemed to get uncomfortable with her remark. Of course he knew her brother was missing, but that was usually a taboo topic. Like talking about it would bring some kind of bad juju between the two of them.

"I think we should go," he let go of her arm and his fingers ran through a strand of her red hair, his hand resting on her shoulder. Ginny gasped and her eyes looked like big brown marbles while he was approaching her.

"Yes, we should," she managed to answer, his nose a bare inch from her face. She looked deep in his eyes and realized they seemed to be more of a pale blue rather than the grey she always thought they were.

His face moved and he kissed her on the cheek, and said "See you in Hogwarts," before turning his back to her and walking into the middle of the crowd.

Although she felt happy for their encounter, she somewhat felt again like an 11 year-old pining over a pretty boy, and having felt like that for most of her life, she felt aggravated for letting herself fall so easily.

As she walked into the Platform, she saw him next to his Slytherin friends. He didn't see her, or he pretended he didn't. He was laughing, poking Crabbe with his elbow, his perfectly straight blonde hair falling over his eyes. Pansy Parkinson was next to him, looking up with her black eyes almost shinning, trying to get into the conversation but he wasn't even paying attention to her.

Ginny turned around to enter the train, suddenly flushed. Damn you, Draco Malfoy, with your effortless charm and amazing genes.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter X**

That morning, Ginny woke up with the impression that something was about to happen. It was Dark Arts class day, and she was counting the days until she was called to use a curse on one of her classmates. Until now it seemed the Carrow's had forgotten her, but she knew it wouldn't take too long for them to notice her.

The week before, they made Lavender Brown do it. She cried the whole time, and yelled "I'm sorry"'s and had to go to the infirmary with a nervous breakdown. The week before that, they asked Neville, and he refused. Ginny knew he would refuse every time he was called. He wasn't afraid of getting punished. And when she saw him with that scar on his cheek, all she thought was he's so brave.

Of course she was right. That day was her day. She saw it in Amycus Carrow's eyes when she entered the classroom. She shivered at his sight, and looked for Draco. He was between Crabbe and Goyle in the front row by the window. He gave her a half smile and she wished she had gone to Madam Pomfrey's with a fake cold.

Draco already tortured someone with the Cruciatus Curse in front of the class. He did it in such a coldly way, it almost freaked Ginny out. When he turned around to get back to his seat, his face was pale and hard, as if he was in another dimension. Remembering how easily he did it made her wonder wich was his real side, this one or the one he showed when he was alone with her.

"Good afternoon, class," the professor started saying, and Ginny felt more sick with each word he spoke, "I hope you are excited to continue training your Curses! Our subject today will be Miss Brown."

The whole classroom fell into a deep silence. Lavender got up and walked to the front of the class, her golden-brown locks glued to her tears. Everybody knew this was the punishment for her weakness the week before.

"And I think there's someone who is ready to practice," he turned to face Ginny with his disgusting evil smile on his face. "Miss Weasley, I believe I haven't had the chance of calling you yet."

As she was getting up, she saw Draco sit still on his seat, watching everything with attention. Neville was rubbing his scar with his finger, probably fearing what would happen next. Because he knew what would happen next.

Ginny got to the front of the classroom and looked at the scared Lavender. She knew she could never hurt her. She turned to face Carrow and said, "I refuse to do it."

"What?" he asked, not looking nearly as impressed as when Neville said it. "You Gryffindor's and your stupid courage and pride. Miss Brown, you may sit, and Miss Parkinson, I believe you were asking me earlier for your turn?"

Lavender ran for her seat next to Parvati Patil as fast as it took for Pansy Parkinson to get up, her bulldog face turning in a twisted smile.

After Pansy yelled the curse, it didn't took long for Ginny to feel it taking action. She felt herself lose control over her body, falling on the ground looking like she was having a seizure. She felt pain like she never had felt before, hundreds of imaginary knives stabbing her flesh. Her screams were so loud and filled her ears with ease. She got so used to them she felt empty when everything stopped. She didn't even realize she started crying until she felt the tears streaming down on the side of her nose while she breathed heavily, feeling beaten up.

Her thoughts were clouded and her head hurted bad, but she still managed to see Draco grabbing Pansy's arm and telling her "That's enough" in front of everyone when she seemed like she would curse her again. He looked darkly at Carrow, and the professor didn't protest.

Draco turned to Neville and said "You should take her to the infirmary," to wich Neville answered, "You don't need to order me to help my friend, Malfoy."

Neville picked her up and took her out of the classroom. And they were leaving, embracing Neville's neck and almost passing out, Ginny looked at Draco with her eyes half closed. He was insane for doing that. And why didn't Carrow do something about a student standing up to him? Perhaps he was afraid of the Malfoy's, since they were so close to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Or because Draco always seemed to be protected by Snape?

It seemed they were in the infirmary in the next second. Her head was hurting as hell and she felt worse when she tried to think. Madame Pomfrey examined her quickly, and ran to her potion's cabinet.

"You have a concussion because of your fall, dear. You need to drink this, it's to prevent brain swelling. Drink it all!", she demanded, seeing Ginny's disgusted face while drinking the muddy liquid. "Now, Mr. Longbottom, it's best if you go back to your classes. Miss Weasley will stay here until tomorrow morning so we are sure she's healthy."

Neville looked at Ginny and left the room. Madame Pomfrey took the glass from Ginny's hand and looked at her face again. "You need to stay awake during the whole night. And you will have a bump on your head but it will heal in one or two days."

She left to her office and Ginny stayed sitting on the bed, looking at the Windows in front of her. Stay awake the whole night? How would she manage to do that? She didn't even have a book to read or anything. She tried to stay awake the whole afternoon, but by dinner time she was so tired she just wanted to close her eyes for just a little while. At least her headache was already gone.

At that time she listened to the sound of the door opening and saw Draco entered the infirmary. He was wearing the shirt, pants and tie of his Slytherin uniform, but his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.

He sat next to her on the bed and asked, "How are you?"

"Better than ever," she joked, half smiling and closing her eyes. He removed a lock of hair from the front of her forehead with his cold fingers, and looked carefully at the bumpy red spot on her skin.

"That looks nasty," he said, letting her hair fall in front of it again.

"Madam Pomfrey said it will be good in a couple of days," she tried to sit more straight, but felt a little dizzy. Draco grabbed her shoulder so she wouldn't fall to her side.

"Be careful, Weasley, I don't want tou falling again. Maybe it's best if you lay down."

"I can't lay down, I can't sleep tonight," she argued, while he forced her to lay on the bed.

"I will keep you company," Draco started pushing the next bed to the side of her's, and in that moment Madam Pomfrey came out of her office to see what was going on.

"We're not allowing any visitors, Mr. Malfoy," she said, looking mad.

Draco looked at her with a smile on his face, "I would like to keep her company tonight, Madam Pomfrey. I hope I don't need to call Headmaster Snape for permission."

Madam Pomfrey seemed like she wanted to argue with him, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish, but just sighted and locked herself inside her office again.

Draco sat on the bed and grabbed a blanket to cover Ginny up. He kissed her temple and touched her face. "I promise I won't let you fall asleep tonight."

He laid down next to her, both facing each other. "Why do you think Pansy looked so happy about torturing me?" she asked, curious.

"I think it must have something to do with you being my Potion's partner and we spending so much time together," he answered, as if it wasn't a big deal, turning and laying on his back with an arm under his head, and his right leg bent. He looked so relaxed looking at the ceiling as if being there with her was completly normal.

"She still likes you," Ginny concluded, without taking her eyes from him.

"I don't care," he casually took her hand and intertwined his fingers with her's, and turned his head to face her. "I don't like her anyway."

Ginny blushed, confused by his touch, but didn't let his hand go. They talked the whole night about everything and then some, until the golden sunrays brightned the room, and she finally let herself fall asleep with her head on his shoulder.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter XI**

"_This slope is treacherous  
__This path is reckless  
__This slope is treacherous  
__And I like it"_

Taylor Swift – "_Treacherous"_

* * *

Ginny was starting to miss the Dumbledore's Army meetings. They only met two or three times a month now, so no one would suspect. Mostly just to discuss what they could do to help other students from being punished, and sometimes training their spells in duels.

They would often forget what was going on outside and just joke around, but Ginny could see worry on Neville's face. Still no news from Luna, and now Ginny was almost sure something was going on between them before Christmas. But when he noticed her looking at him, he would try to smile and look not worried at all.

One morning after a late DA meeting, when she entered the Great Hall for breakfast a bunch of heart shaped confettis fell over her head. "Valentine's day," she groaned. She had forgotten about it.

As she walked to the Gryffindor table, she shook her head to take them off her hair. She felt like all Gryffindor eye's were on her, probably wondering what her reaction to this day would be, since her supposed boyfriend wasn't around. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seing her down, though. So she sat next to Neville, Lavender and Parvati, grabbing a toast and proceding to eat it while they looked at her curious.

"What?" she asked, annoyied.

"We were just wondering if you would be sad today," Parvati answered carefully.

"Why would I be?" Ginny raised her eyebrow.

"Because Harry's missing!" Lavender squealed, with her eyes wide open.

"I already told you guys Harry's not my boyfriend anymore," she looked at her toast and pretended to be okay with that. It was hard enough when he dumped her, and even harder when he went he ran away. She spent all her life wanting to be Harry Potter's girlfriend, and when she finally was, everything ended as fast as it began in the first place. Plus, she didn't felt like crying over him anymore.

They continued to eat breakfast until the morning owls flew inside the Great Hall leaving the daily correspondence in front of the students. A golden owl dropped a letter in front of Ginny, and she grabbed it quickly before Parvati ou Lavender thought about taking it.

She opened it, and there was a "Please be my Valentine" writen in big capital letters. She looked at the paper, confused, and the letters started rearranging themselves on the paper, some disappearing and other's appearing, until it said "Meet me in the gardens at six."

Ginny looked up at the Slytherin's table, and Draco was reading her reaction. In the fraction of moment that their eyes met, Lavender ripped the note from Ginny's hand, and squeaked out of happiness. "Someone asked Ginny to be his Valentine!"

"Oh Merlin, who do you think he is?!" Parvati asked, taking the note from Lavender's hands.

Ginny, happy the secret message had masked itself again, just smiled at the girls, without answering their questions. But Neville just looked at her with a strange look on his face, as if he wanted to tell her something but couldn't quite make himself do it.

At six, she left the castle wearing a blue feltre winter jacket, black jeans, boots and a yellow scarf around her neck. She looked around and saw Draco a few meters away. She ran towards him and the first think she did was slap his arm.

"You stupid wizard, sending me a Valentine card?"

"I thought you would like it, crazy witch!" he yelled back, holding her hand and laughing. "I'm glad you accepted it, tough. It would be embarrassing to explain why I was going to Hogsmeade alone."

"We are forbidden to go to Hogsmeade," she remembered him, with a smile on her face.

"Yes, everyone else is. I asked for a favor to a friend of the family," he said, taking his wand from his black jacket's pocket. "Now we need to do something about your hair. Everyone will know you are a Weasley if they see you like this."

He touched her head with the tip of his wand and her hair gradually turned dark chocolate brown. "That's better," he said, smiling.

"So you like brunettes better?" she teased him while he started pulling her towards the gates.

"No. Actually, I like red haired girls better," he smiled at her and she blushed.

When they got to the gates, there was a carriage waiting for them. A masked Death Eater opened the gate and let them out, while saying "You have to be back in a couple of hours for curfew, or I will get in trouble. We're even now."

"Yes, Cradle, we are," Draco said, shaking his hand and helping Ginny get on the carriage.

It didn't take long until they arrived to Hogsmeade, and Draco took Ginny to the door of Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Ginny looked at the store and then at Draco. "I haven't been here in ages. Are you sure you want to go inside?"

"I always believed this was the place where you took your date on Valentine's Day. And since I never had a Valentine before, I do want to know how's inside," he answered, showing his white teeth in a sweet smile.

"Okay then!" Ginny sighted and let him pull her inside, the bell over the door announcing them with a tuneful tinkle.

The decoration was the same, tacky and frilly, the same gaudy tables and chairs, the lacy napkins and china sugar bowls. And because it was Valentine's Day, they had put out the old golden cherubs that threw pink confetti over the couples sitting. But instead of dozens of Hogwarts teenagers sitting around, you only saw two old couples sitting inside.

Draco took her to a table far away from the couples, and helped her sit down. He sat next to her and ordered tea for two. He held her hand over the table and played with her thumb while the golden cherub looked emotionlessly at them.

"I'm sure you weren't expecting to have a Valentine's Day date this year," he said, looking straight into her eyes.

"You are right, I wasn't," Ginny answered, and she almost brought up Harry, but bit her tongue. He didn't have the right of getting in the middle of her date.

"You should see this as a very special thing, since you are my very first date," he smiled at her.

"I'm sure I'm not," Ginny contested.

"Really, you are," Draco looked at her with a now serious face. "I never asked anyone on a date before."

"And why didn't you?" she asked in disbelief.

"Because I never really liked anyone enough before," he answered.

As Ginny was thinking how to react to his answer, the golden cherub dropped a handfull of pink confetti on their heads. Draco laughed as he helped her take it off her now-brown-hair, and were interrupted by Madam Puddifoot that came to serve them tea.

"You two are such a cute couple," she told them, her sweet voice contrasting with her stout figure. "For how long have you two been together?"

Ginny was opening her mouth to say it was their first date, but Draco was faster. "It's our first anniversary!"

She looked at him astonished, but agreed, "Yes, it is."

"So sweet!" said Madam Puddifoot, holding her hands in front of her chest. "How did you two meet?"

"In Hogwarts," answered Draco, still holding Ginny's hand. "I never noticed her before. We weren't in the same house. But last year she became her house seeker, and we had a Quidditch match. Of course she beat me to shame! She's the best seeker I've ever seen. And I don't know, seeing her there just made me think," he looked at her, straight into her eyes, "that I really wanted to know her. That she could be perfect for me."

Ginny felt a knot on her throat, believing his story for just a second. But she composed herself and smiled at Madam Puddifoot. "And of course I was in love with him since I got into Hogwarts. He was the most handsome guy in school!"

"You two remind me of me and my husband," said Madam Puddifoot, seeming emotional. "So young and so in love. Have a good Valentine's Day, and the tea is on the house!"

She walked away and Ginny looked at Draco. "What was that?"

"Me telling the truth," he shrugged his shoulders. "But I wasn't brave enough to admit it before."

Ginny and Draco drank their tea and left the store after waving goodbye to Madame Puddifoot. They went back to Hogwarts in silence and holding hands. Cradle, the Death Eater, opened the gates and let them in again, and they walked in silence to the front door of the castle.

"Thank you for today, Draco," she said, turning to face him, "It was pretty special."

"I really enjoyed it," he smiled at her, looking a little embarrassed. That almost made Ginny laugh. It wasn't everyday that you could catch a glimpse of Draco Malfoy embarrassed.

"And that thing about you never liking anyone enough before, was it true?" Ginny asked, trying to look deep into his eyes.

"It was," he answered, and took out his wand. "Wait for a second. _Finite incantatem_."

Her hair became it's natural color as gradually as it became brown, and in no time she was old red haired Ginny Weasley again, like she always was before that afternoon. He put his hand on her cheek and said, while bending down for a goodnight kiss, "I told you I liked read haired girls better."


End file.
